COURT OF SURVEY RULES

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 234.10

COURT OF SURVEY RULES

13th August, 1974

LEGAL NOTICE 93 of 1974, as amended by Legal Notice 411 of 2007.

The title of these rules is Court of Survey Rules.

(Rule 3)

FORM No. 1

Notice of appeal

To the Registrar of the Court of Survey.

I hereby give notice that I .................................. (name and

address), the master (or owner of .................. shares) of the ship

..................................... of the port of .......................... do appeal -

(1) from the report of ................................, the surveyor

appointed by the Minister to survey the said ship.

or

(2) from the declaration given by .............................., ship

surveyor OR engineer surveyor OR radio surveyor (OR

from the refusal of .............................., ship surveyor

OR engineer surveyor OR radio surveyor to give a

declaration) under the provisions of article 214 of the

Merchant Shipping Act.

or

(3) from the refusal of ............................, surveyor of

ships to give a certificate of clearance, under article

294 of the Merchant Shipping Act, that the said ship is

properly provided with lights and with the means of

making fog signals.

The address at which all notices and documents may be served

by post or otherwise on me is .........................................................

Dated this ............. day of ..............., ................ .

(Signature of appellant)

FORM No. 2

Rule 4(5)

Summons to Court

Court of Survey

In the matter of an appeal by ........................... from the report of

.............................. , the surveyor appointed by the Minister to

survey the ........................ (name of ship) (or as the case maybe).

In pursuance of the Merchant Shipping Act, I hereby summon

you to attend as Chairman (or assessor) on this appeal, at

.......................................... on the ........... day of ........... at the

hour of ................... .

Dated this ................ day of ..................., ............... .

Registrar

I will attend as summoned

(Signature of person summoned)

FORM No. 3

Rule 4(5)

Notice of Sitting of Court of Survey

The Court of Survey

In the matter of an appeal by ........................... from the report of

...................................., the surveyor appointed by the Minister to

survey the ............................... (name of ship) (or as the case may

be).

To .............................., the master (OR owner of ............ shares)

of the ship ........................ (name of ship) the appellant (OR the

Minister).

I hereby give you notice that the Court of Survey will meet at

..................... on ............... day of ..............., .............. at the hour

of ................ to hear the appeal in the above matter.

Dated this ................... day of ........................, ............ .

Registrar.

FORM No. 4

Rule 9(6)

Order of Court for Release or Detention of Ship

The Court of Survey

In the matter of an appeal by ............................ from the report

of ...................................., the surveyor appointed by the Minister

to survey the ................................. (name of ship) (or as the case

may be).

I ........................... do, with the concurrence of ..........................,

order the said ship to be released (OR detained) (absolutely or

conditionally upon ...........................................).

Given under my hand this ................ day of ................, ........... .

Chairman.

We (OR I) concur in the above report.

Assesor.

Assesor.

FORM No. 5

Rule 9(7)

Report of Court of Survey

The Court of Survey

In the matter of an appeal by ........................... from the report of

...................................., the surveyor appointed by the Minister to

survey the ............................. (name of ship (or as the case may

be).

I .................................... do report that, having heard this appeal,

I did with the concurrence of ........................................ order the

said ship to be released (OR detained) (absolutely or conditionally

upon ..............................) for the reasons set forth in the annexed

statement.

I am also of opinion that the cost of this appeal should be paid by

............................... (OR that all parties shall pay their own costs).

Dated this .............. day of ........................, .............. .

Chairman.

We (OR I) concur in the above report.

Assessor.

Assessor.

In these rules -

"the Act" means the Merchant Shipping Act;

"Chairman" means the person appointed by the Minister to be

Chairman of the Court under article 326(2) of the Act;

"Court" means the Court of Survey constituted under article 326

of the Act;

"Minister" has the same meaning as is assigned to it in the Act;

"registrar" means the person appointed from time to time by the

Minister to be the registrar of the court under article 326(4) of the

Act.

(Rule 13)

Fees of the Court of Survey

On filing of notice of appeal .................................

€34.94

On entering an appearance ....................................

€11.65

On every copy of the Court’s report, or of any of

70c

the proceedings in the appeal, per 100 words ............ subject to a

minimum of

€4.66.

Where the owner or master of a ship (hereinafter referred

to as "the appellant") desires to appeal to the court, he shall file at

the office of the registrar a notice of appeal in the form appearing

as Form No. 1 in the First Schedule.

(1) Immediately upon the filing of a notice of appeal, the

registrar shall communicate the fact to the Minister and to the

Chairman.

(2) The registrar shall select a person to act as assessor on the

appeal out of the list of assessors approved for the time being by

the Minister under article 315 of the Act.

(3) The Minister, on receiving notice of the appeal, shall

appoint the other assessor, and shall forthwith send the name and

address of such assessor to the registrar.

(4) If the ship to which the appeal refers is a foreign ship, the

registrar shall give notice to the consular officer of the country to

which the ship belongs, if that country has a consular officer in

Malta, that, at the request of the appellant, some competent person

be selected by the consular officer to act as assessor in lieu of the

assessor selected by the registrar under sub-rule (2).

(5) As soon as the registrar has ascertained by whom the

appeal will be heard, he shall summon the court in the form

appearing as Form No. 2 in the First Schedule, and he shall, at the

same time, send notice thereof to the Minister and to the appellant

in the form appearing as Form No. 3 in the said Schedule.

(6) If the survey to which the appeal refers has been made on

the complaint of any person, hereinafter called the complainant, the

Minister shall send to him notice of the time and place appointed

for the hearing.

(7) Previous to the hearing, the Minister shall forward to the

registrar, to be produced as evidence at the hearing, an official copy

of the report of the surveyor.

(8) The court shall, if practicable, be summoned to hear the

appeal on a day not later than fourteen days from the filing of the

notice of appeal.

The Minister and the appellant shall be parties to the

proceedings, and any other person, on entering an appearance, may

by leave of the court be made a party to the proceedings.

A party may give to any other party notice in writing to

produce any documents (saving all just exceptions) relating to the

matter in question, and which are in the possession or under the

control of such other party, and, if such notice be not complied

with, secondary evidence of the contents of the said documents

may be given by or on behalf of the party who gave such notice.

Subpoenas to witnesses shall be issued to witnesses by the

court, and such subpoenas shall, as far as practicable, be in the

form used for summoning witnesses before the Court of Appeal for

the hearing of appeals from the Court of Magistrates, Civil

Jurisdiction, and shall be subject to the same rules.

Affidavits and solemn declarations may, by leave of the

court, be used as evidence at the hearing.

(1) At the hearing, the Minister shall first call his

witnesses, the complainant (if he has appeared) shall then call his

witnesses, and, finally, the appellant shall then call his witnesses.

(2) After the appellant has examined all his witnesses, the

M i n i s t e r a n d t h e c o m p l a i n a n t m a y, o n c a u s e s h o w n t o t h e

satisfaction of the court, call further witnesses in reply.

(3) After all the witnesses have been examined, the court shall

first hear the appellant, then the complainant (if any), and

afterwards the Minister.

(4) The court may adjourn the hearing from time to time and

from place to place.

(5) The decision of the court may be delivered either viva voce

or in writing, and it shall not be necessary to hold a sitting merely

for the purpose of giving a decision.

(6) As soon as possible after it has come to its decision, the

court shall issue an order for the release or for the detention (either

absolutely or on condition) of the ship in the form appearing as

Form No. 4 in the First Schedule, and a copy thereof shall be sent

or delivered to the respective parties.

(7) The court shall report to the Minister in the form appearing

as Form No. 5 in the First Schedule.

The court may, if the parties consent thereto in writing,

decide whether damages are due, and to and from whom, and may

assess the amount thereof.

Any notice, summons or other document issued under these

rules may be served either personally or by sending the same by

registered letter to the address of the person to be served, and the

service of any notice, summons or other document may be proved

by the oath or affidavit of the person by whom it was served.

The court may, before the appeal is heard, require the

appellant to give security to the satisfaction af the court for costs

which he may become liable to pay.

(1) The fees payable to the assessors appointed under rule

4 shall be fixed by the court and collected on their behalf by the

registrar.

(2) The registrar shall also levy and collect, in the name and on

behalf of the Government, the fees set out in the Second Schedule.